


Birthday

by FrozenSnares



Series: Benefits of Detention [6]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday, F/M, Family, Fluff, Food, Happy times, Party, Some Swearing, relationship building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 19:51:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2885453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenSnares/pseuds/FrozenSnares
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rickon has a small get-together for his birthday that is full of revelations and surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> In case anyone was wondering, the series timeline is one part per month, so Rickon and Shireen met in November. (Because who needs seasonally-appropriate fanfiction?)

“I don’t think I can tell you exactly how much I _don’t_ want a birthday party.”

“Come on, Rickon,” Shireen pleaded. “It’ll be lots of fun. You can invite all your friends, and your parents have already decided to make a feast anyway.”

“Oh, Shireen,” Rickon said. “When are you going to realize that you’re my only real friend?”

Unfortunately, it was true. Rickon Stark hadn’t been doing well in King’s Landing. During his two years at a correction school, his parents had moved down from Winterfell so Ned could manage a branch of Stark Enterprises. Rickon had been forced to move down when his time was up, but he knew no one here. No one was particularly interested in getting to know him either, except Shireen.

“Well, you can invite your family and have a small party instead,” Shireen suggested.

Rickon rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah, because my family is so great.”

Shireen smacked his arm. “Your family is fantastic, and you know it.”

Rickon was still in shock that Shireen liked his family so much. He had been sure that everything would be completely ruined. His family was mostly chaotic, and just about everyone had caused some sort of massive problem. Shireen was completely unfazed by it, and she loved spending time with the Starks.

“I don’t know,” Rickon said slowly. “Your family has much better parties.”

Shireen raised her eyebrows at Rickon. “You want my family to throw you a party? I’m sure Uncle Renly would be okay with that, but you might not like it too much.”

Rickon leaned back against a tree in the middle of the quad. Even though they were at school, they were still in a bubble together. He could easily see why no one wanted to befriend him, but he definitely couldn’t see why people steered away from Shireen. Rickon put his hands behind his head, trying to think about his upcoming birthday. He didn’t really care about birthdays. The only upside he could see was that people who did the math on his and Shireen’s ages wouldn't think it so strange.

“Alright,” Rickon said at last. “We’ll have a small party at my house. But don’t expect anything over-the-top.”

Shireen grinned at him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “It’ll be perfect, just you wait.”

Rickon smiled back at Shireen, placing a hand on her waist to hold her closer. He knew what he wanted to say: that everything would be perfect as long as she was there. He knew better than to be too forward, though. After all, he didn’t want to ruin anything with her. She made risks seem worthless. That was a strange thought for Rickon. He used to live for risks, but Shireen had changed everything for him.

The bell sounded. Shireen tried to escape Rickon’s hold, but he held on tighter.

“Rickon, I have to go to class,” Shireen said.

“You don’t _have_ to,” Rickon countered.

Shireen rolled her eyes. “I _want_ to go to class.”

Rickon let up his grip, releasing the small girl from his arms. “You know I’ll give you anything you want,” he said slowly, making Shireen blush deeply. He leaned forward to press a soft, chaste kiss to her lips. “Go on to class, then.”

Shireen took a few steps away before spinning back toward Rickon. “It’ll be a great party, Rickon. You’ll love it.”

\--

Rickon was sitting lazily across the sofa in his living room, watching Shireen playing outside with Shaggydog. He was starting to think that Shaggydog listened to Shireen more than him. Arya and Gendry were throwing tennis balls for Nymeria and Shaggydog to chase. Shaggydog returned each ball obediently to Shireen in exchange for a few pets. Nymeria was running off with every tennis ball she caught, and Arya kept chasing her across the yard to wrestle them back. Rickon smiled, closing his eyes. Someone slumped onto the couch next to him.

“Not going to join them?”

Rickon looked over to Bran, who was clutching his cane in one hand. “I don’t think so,” Rickon said. “Shaggy likes Shireen more than me now, and Arya’s great with her, too. I think she likes the acceptance of everyone here.”

“You more than most,” Bran pointed out. “I’m sure she wants you there.”

“What about you, though?” Rickon asked. “You can’t exactly go run about with us.”

Bran gripped his cane. “It was a risk of the surgery, and I’m more than happy with the results,” Bran said. “Go play with them. It’s your party.”

Rickon gave his brother a hard look. “You should come. I’m sure Summer wants to play, too.”

Bran looked over to his dog who was sitting by his feet, head on his paws. “Yeah, I should probably take Summer out, too.”

Rickon held out a hand to his brother, pulling him to his feet. Together they went outside to join the chaos. With a touch from Bran, Summer ran off to join Nymeria and Shaggydog in their play. Rickon went to stand next to Shireen, wrapping an arm across her waist. He pulled her in to kiss her cheek. Shaggydog ran over to circle them, dropping a tennis ball in front of Shireen. Shireen laughed and went to retrieve it, but Rickon held her back. Nymeria sprinted between them, taking the tennis ball with her. Shaggydog immediately gave chase.

“Geez, Arya, keep your dog under control,” Rickon said.

Arya scoffed. “Excuse me,” she replied. “Shireen has better control of Shaggy than you do, and you know it.”

Rickon shrugged. “Yeah, well she’s brilliant.”

Shireen hit Rickon playfully across the chest, earning a small grin from him. 

Gendry laughed. “You two Starks have the worst control of your pets and you know it.”

Rickon let out a laugh, but Arya went over to Gendry and punched him in the arm. “Nymeria listens to me just fine.”

“Of course she does,” Gendry said, nodding sarcastically. “That explains why she’s been playing fetch perfectly.”

Arya punched him again. Gendry feigned injury, falling to the floor. Arya kicked him lightly in the ribs, much to Bran and Rickon’s amusement. Shireen was biting her lip, never taking her eyes off Gendry.

“She’s not going to hurt him,” Rickon whispered.

“I know,” Shireen said, looking back toward Rickon. “He just reminds me of someone.”

Rickon knitted his eyebrows together. “A good someone?”

Shireen nodded slowly. “Yeah… like family.”

Rickon hugged Shireen tightly. “If you stay with me, then he could be.”

A small gasp escaped Shireen’s lips. “Are they – Arya and Gendry – are they–?”

“Not married,” Rickon answered, knowing what she was thinking. “Arya insists that she’ll never get married, but I think Gendry’s leading her in that direction.”

From the house, a call came. Lunch was ready. Rickon led Shireen to the large outdoor table, where Ned and Catelyn had set out a large amount of food. Rickon was secretly glad that a very small portion of his family had come. He wasn’t sure he could handle another get-together with his oldest brothers so soon. Bran and Arya were good company, though, and they always kept Shireen in the loop, inviting her to games without Rickon and insisting she try out all of the traditional Stark family dishes.

“Northern foods are way better than the stuff down here,” Arya insisted, placing a slab of barbecue of her plate.

“We have barbecue in the South, too, you know,” Shireen said.

“But your barbecue isn’t made by the famous Ned Stark,” Arya pointed out. “It’s much better than anything down here.”

Shireen laughed, letting Arya talk her into trying a little bit of everything. Rickon knew that Shireen would have taken a serving anyway, but Arya was enjoying herself far too much. Bran settled down next to Rickon, already eating a roll of bread.

“She really is great, you know,” Bran said.

“Yeah, I know,” Rickon responded, watching Shireen as Arya retrieved a second plate to get her more food. “She’s perfect.”

The two girls sat across from Rickon and Bran, letting Gendry take a seat at Arya’s side. Everyone settled at the table, lapsing into silence as the first few bites were taken. Arya was looking expectantly at Shireen, and Shireen met her eyes as she took a bite of the barbecue. Rickon watched Shireen’s eyes roll back in pleasure as she slowly chewed through the meat. A large grin worked its way onto Rickon’s face.

“That is amazing,” Shireen said, covering her mouth. She took another bite.

All the Starks fell into hearty laughter, but Gendry was shaking his head.

“You gave in too easily,” Gendry said. “You didn’t even let them tell you that ‘Winter is coming.’”

“Winter is always coming, Gendry,” Bran said matter-of-factly. “You southerners are just never prepared for it. We’ll best you in everything, though.”

Gendry shook his head at Bran, but continued eating his meal. There was a small amount of silence before Ned looked over to Shireen.

“So, Shireen,” he said evenly. “How are your plans for next year looking? Anything settled yet?”

Shireen swallowed and looked over to Ned. “Not yet,” she said. “I’ve gotten a few acceptances from universities, but I’m waiting to hear back from Winterfell.”

“A good choice,” Ned said. “Though, you should probably visit the campus before committing. You never know what kind of lies someone might have told you about Winterfell.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Rickon said. “Because I spend so much time talking to Shireen about college. I just told her that it’s fucking cold in Winterfell.”

“Rickon!” Catelyn scolded.

“It is!” Rickon defended, looking to his siblings for support.

Arya nodded her head in agreement. “That’s a pretty accurate assessment, Mom,” she said. “You can’t just suggest Winterfell University to most southerners.”

Catelyn held the bridge of her nose with one hand.

“Well, I guess Mom did go there,” Bran thought out loud. “But Riverrun is much further north than King’s Landing. Shireen’s got something else coming if she thinks it’ll just be fine.”

“Maybe I should go visit Winterfell,” Shireen mused.

Rickon lit up. For some reason, the idea of Shireen up in Winterfell was really appealing. “I’ll take you,” he offered. “We can stay at the original Stark Castle. It’s great. You’ll love it.”

The rest of the table was staring at them. Rickon was still caught up in the idea, and he looked expectantly to his family. They took a sudden interest in their food, not bothering to talk. Rickon was confused. They would usually make a big deal out of something like that, but they were decidedly ignoring him. He glanced over to Shireen, who shrugged. 

The rest of the meal finished in relative silence, most of the company at the table only speaking occasionally. Rickon decided to ignore them, keeping up a conversation with Shireen. Eventually, they settled back into the house. Bran and Rickon took up playing video games, switching out controllers with Arya and Gendry every round. Shireen declined every turn at the game, simply deciding to watch the competitive nature of the Starks unfold.

Shireen was leaning onto the side of the couch when her phone started buzzing. Rickon watched her glance at the screen and turn her attention back to the television. Gendry held out a bowl of chips to her, asking if she wanted any.

“No, I’m good,” she said, giving Gendry a small smile. The smile left her face quickly and she recoiled slightly.

“You okay?” Gendry asked.

“Um, yeah, I think so,” she said. “But, um, Gendry… what’s your family like?”

Arya began laughing from across the room. Gendry nodded his head knowingly and gave Shireen a small smile. “Figured it out?”

Rickon turned to watch several emotions cross Shireen’s face. Shireen eventually screwed up her face in thought. “But that would mean that… you’re my cousin?”

Gendry nodded. “In blood only, but yeah,” he confirmed. “My dad wasn’t exactly a dad. After my mom died, he decided to start paying attention to me, but too little too late. I was over it. Got him out of my life as fast as I could.”

“I’m so sorry,” Shireen mumbled. “I didn’t know… I mean, Uncle Robert was always kind of…”

Gendry laughed. “It’s okay, Shireen,” he said. “It’s just interesting to see that my cousin also found her way to a Stark.”

“It’s definitely because of our sparkling personalities,” Arya said, smashing a few buttons on her controller.

“But you’re not a Baratheon,” Rickon said, falling a bit behind on the conversation.

“Yeah, no,” Gendry said. “I don’t care for the name – no offense. That man wasn’t my father, and I’ve gladly kept my mother’s name.”

“Good thing, too,” Arya said. “The idea that he could turn out like Robert is gross.”

Rickon knew what Arya meant. Robert may be well-known as the current president of Westeros, but he also had several other attributes that included alcoholism, adultery, and general debauchery. As far as Rickon knew, Gendry shared none of those traits.

“But you’re my cousin,” Shireen said.

Gendry nodded. “I’m your cousin.”

Shireen jumped into Gendry’s arms, hugging him tightly. Gendry hugged her back. Rickon realized that the biggest difference between the two was their sizes. Shireen was incredibly petite. She came up to Rickon’s shoulder at best, and Gendry was quite a bit taller than Rickon. Not to mention that Gendry was extraordinarily broad and muscled. Where Shireen was all the elegance of a doe, Gendry was more of a bull.

“Give me my girlfriend back,” Rickon said suddenly. “I’m making a claim on that Baratheon.”

“Mine isn’t a Baratheon, little brother,” Arya said. 

Rickon smiled when Shireen came back into his arms. He kissed the hinge of her jaw.

“Don’t Baratheons have a history of finding and marrying Starks?” Bran mused from his chair.

Arya and Rickon shrugged at the same time, both cuddling with their respective significant others.

“I’m not sure, Bran,” Arya said, reaching up to mess with Gendry’s hair. “But I’m glad I found this one.”

Rickon smiled as he held onto Shireen. “Me, too,” he said. “Best birthday present ever.”

“I guess I’m keeping the one I got you, then,” Bran said, reaching over to grab some chips.

Rickon shrugged, holding tightly onto Shireen. In truth, no one had to ever get him anything again. Having Shireen in his life made Rickon realize how insignificant stuff was. He didn’t need it. He didn’t even want it anymore. He just wanted her, and he was going to keep her as long as he could. Rickon grinned at the thought, nuzzling his nose into Shireen’s neck.

“Time for cake!” Catelyn called from the kitchen.

The Stark family gathered into the dining room, sang a half-hearted chorus of “Happy Birthday” with Arya determinedly yelling “Cha cha cha” after every line, and Rickon blew out the fifteen candles on his cake. If the Starks were sticklers for anything, it was tradition, and keeping the number of candles on a birthday cake equal to the number of years lived was one of them. Soon, they were going to be the source of a fire hazard for the older Stark family members.

“Now, it has come to my attention that Arya and Bran have retracted their gifts to you this year,” Ned said, giving his children a look of disbelief.

Arya and Bran nodded resolutely, giving each other a fist bump.

“He said he didn’t want it,” Bran said. “I’m just respecting his wishes and saving myself some money.”

“And I just didn’t get him anything,” Arya added. “This just makes it a bit less awkward.”

Ned shook his head at his two children, and Rickon stifled a laugh. He had meant what he said about receiving presents. He just wanted Shireen with him.

“Shireen?” Ned asked hopefully.

“He, um, also told me not to get him anything,” she said slowly,

Rickon grinned. He remembered that small argument well. She was, of course, just trying to be proper. Rickon had ended the conversation by inserting a few sexual innuendoes into it. Shireen was blushing too much to be coherent by the end of it and let it go.

“Then, I guess it’s just me and your mother,” Ned said, handing Rickon an envelope.

Due the overwhelming number of birthdays that the Stark children had, Rickon already knew what it was. Ned and Catelyn simply stopped buying their children gifts at a certain age and started giving them money. Rickon always thought that it was at sixteen, but maybe his parents decided to start early. Still, Rickon tore open the card with enthusiasm, ready to figure out how much his birthday was worth. He froze when he opened the card.

There was no money inside. Instead, there were two plane tickets to Winterfell.

“You’re kidding, right?” he said, trying not to smile at his parents.

Ned and Catelyn smiled back at their youngest, sharing a small hug. “We figured that it was the best option,” Catelyn said. “You haven’t been back in nearly three years, and Shireen wanted to go, too…”

“What is it, Rickon?” Shireen asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Tickets to Winterfell for spring break,” Rickon said, grinning at her. “I’m going to get to show you Winterfell!”

“And it’s already been cleared with your dad,” Ned said. “I called Stannis earlier to make sure it was okay.”

“I – what – are you serious?” Shireen asked, looking at the tickets Rickon was holding.

“You’ll spend the full two weeks there,” Bran added. “It’ll be plenty of fun.”

Rickon got out of his chair to give his parents a hug and his extreme gratitude. If anything, it definitely explained some of the odd behavior they had earlier. Rickon squeezed his mother tightly before returning to Shireen’s side to give her a hug.

“Don’t get too excited, brother,” Arya said. “Mom and Dad may not be arriving until that Wednesday, but Gendry and I will be driving up with the dogs soon after you. Apparently, we had to limit your alone time or something.”

Shireen’s cheeks were flushing, but Rickon gave her a smile to set her at ease. He honestly didn’t care who would be at Winterfell with them. He was just happy that they were going together. There was so much over there that he had to show her. His mind was far from whatever his parents were thinking of.

“We’re going to Winterfell,” Rickon said, still in shock.

Shireen nodded back at him. “Yes, we are.”

**Author's Note:**

> As requested by random00b and Direwaggle42! Getting to the other request in the next part!


End file.
